Playing 1-2 NL hold'em. I've got about 200 in chips. A few hands earlier I had gotten away with a relative steal. There was a 1 dollar small blind, 2 dollor big, a straddle to 4, another straddle to 6, I straddle for 8, player to the right straddles, 10, another player straddles 12. 6 callers for 12 before it comes back to me. I made a move with Kh 10h. I raised it to 80. A few people think about calling, but ultimately everyone folds. pocket 7's folded.

This is the hand of the night.A few hands later, it get's straddled up to 10. I had pocket 8's. I think I straddled for 6 this time. It was my turn to act. Everyone had called to this point. Everyone had called. I thought about making a move, but I didn't feel too good about my 8's so I just called. Sure as shit, the guy that straddled for 10 raised the pot to 75. Fuck fuck fuck, I knew I should have made the move. 2 callers before it was time to act. Normally I would have called the 75, but my 8's had to be behind with 2 callers. I mucked them. What would you have done?

before you look at the outcome of the hand would you have done it differently than I did? It ended up being about a 400 dollar pot, with 1 all in pre-flop.

flop comes A 4 3. I felt good about my fold. Turn comes another A. Now I'm thinking my hand was good... no way.. soemone had to have an Ace. River comes a 7.

hands revealed.

Initial raiser - pocket 5's1st caller mucked - probably 2 painted cards.Winner of the hand - the all in 6d 7d. He won on the river.My pocket 8's would have dragged the pot.

The other night, I'm heading to the Poker Palace to get a 10/20 game started. I'm backing up on a hill in the Jeep and step out when dealer Bob asks me, "Is that Jeep 4wd?". I told him that it was. A little bizarre, but then the next request made total sense...

"Hey Ji, can you help me out. I spun off the exit ramp on 400 earlier today and my car is in a ditch. Can you pull me out? I've got a cable we can use."

I'm thinking, sure no sweat. I suppose the Jeep can do it. I've never put it to any kind of test like this. I'm thinking Bob has some heavy duty cable we can use. He's they handy man around the house. I got real skeptical when he started digging through the garage and bundled up an outdoor extension cable. Oh lord. Fuggit, I'm not gonna say anything, we'll give it a shot. We get to the car, it's way down in a ditch, barely visible next to a tree covered by leaves. This is the exit ramp to head I-285 westbound coming off of GA 400 North. It's got bad written all over it. The exit ramp is long and curvy and blind corner for anyone exiting. Immediately someone stopped in a pick-up truck when he noticed what we were trying to accomplish. We were in finishing up strapping the (funny to me now) extension cable to the bumpers of both cars. The guy in the truck offered a rope. I told him we'd try this first. Ready to go, extension cable doubled over, drop the Jeep into 4 low, vrooom vrooom. cable snapped immediately.

Okay time for the Rope. At this time another gentleman stopped in a Lexus, making sure everyone was alright, basically a stopper by to see what the hell was going on. We hook up the rope and try again. the Jeep barely struggles, the Civic rolls out of the ditch. Go Jeep Go. Bob has a flat, we get him on the shoulder, hand the rope back and give our many thanks to the 2 passers.

I'm generally a skeptic when it comes to the good nature of people. I really like say thank you to the random person in the Ford Pickup truck with handy dandy heavy duty rope. I have new faith in the good will of other humans.

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Also known as Masashige. The son of a certain Hattori Yasunaga, Hanzo, who would earn the nickname 'Devil Hanzo', served Tokugawa Ieyasu loyally and usefully. His nickname - Devil Hanzo - was not only to pay homage to his skills but also to distinguish him from another Tokugawa 'ninja', Watanabe Hanzo. Hattori, who fought his first battle at the age of 16, went on to serve at Anegawa (1570) and Mikatagahara (1572), but his most valuable contribution came in 1582, following Oda Nobunaga's death. At that time Tokugawa and his retainers had been staying near Ôsaka and learned of the assassination only just in time to avoid being detained by Akechi Mitsuhide's troops. But they were by no means out of the woods. Mikawa was still a long way away, and Akechi men would be combing the roads for them. At this point, Hanzo suggested that they take a route through Iga province, as he had ties with the samurai there. In addition, Ieyasu had sheltered survivors from Nobunaga's bloody invasion of that province in 1580 and those who knew of this would certainly be well disposed to offer assistance. Honda Tadakatsu sent Hanzo on ahead, and, as hoped, the Iga men agreed not only to guide them along back roads, but also to provide them with an escort. At length, Tokugawa and his band returned to Mikawa safely. The same could not be said for Anayama Beisetsu, a recent Tokugawa addition who had insisted on taking a different route.

Hanzo was succeded by his son, Masanari, who would be given the title Iwami-no-Kami and whose men would act as the guards of Edo Castle. Hanzo's reputation as a ninja leader who commanded a 200-man strong unit of Iga men has grown to legendary proportions.

So last night, I'm playing Hold'em online with Earnie at Ultimate Bet (UB). We're playing $.50/1.00 No Limit Hold'em. You can't call that, that's too much for you !!!! We're having a good time, there is one dude that is on major tilt. He keeps getting flushed out, straightened out on the River. His hands would not hold to save his life. So Earnie, the Narrator (random player), and myself are badgering him, making him more tilty. We're having a few laughs when Earnie calls me on the phone. I had folded my hand and Earnie in a relative late position asks me if he should call his 6s 9s. I say hell yeah if you can get in cheap. You know how the saying goes. Big Lick never loses. So Earnie get's in cheap. flop comes 6 9 x. Hah. Checks around to him. He throws a buck at it. Turn comes a 6. Wooo Hoooooooo I start (singing like a little child) Earnie's getting paid. Earnie's getting paid. River comes a 6 !!!! Earnie hit quads with his big lick. Checks to him. I tell him to throw 10 bucks at it. He get's a caller. Cha Ching !!! A few hands later he's got a nut flush A 3 or something like that. Player ahead of him pushes all in. Earnie calls. Other player had a 10 high flush. Cha Ching.

I, myself am the worst player. I limped in with Kc 9c. Flop comes 9c A? x? Player ahead of me bet's 5. I think, okay, my hand doesn't look so bad. I'm gonna try and steal it right now. I raise the POT. The other player thinks for maybe a second and goes all-in. Oops I stepped on a big one. It was 12 dollars more for me to call and I was committed about 25-30 more bucks. I think about it for a few seconds, then I say what the hell. Turn 9, river King. I have 9's full of Kings against his.. you guessed it, 2 pair. Aces and Kings. This guy stuck around for awhile. I thought he was on tilt, but he controlled himself. Sometimes I should feel ashamed of myself, but not really.

I left after awhile due to connection problems... What do I see in my box this morning.. mail from Earnie..... I lost it all. He went up against quads 2 times after I left and managed to lose everything he had, which was considerable with the cards he had been getting earlier.

A long long time ago, I remember when the music used to make me smile.......

I first stepped into Duprees back in the summer of 1991. I was downstairs with some college friends, the summer after my 2nd year at Tech, getting tickets for Total Recall. We had some time to kill so one of the guys thought it'd be a good idea to go upstairs to Duprees to chill and have a brew. Well low and behold, I'm sitting at a table, when the lovely Lisa Dupree, behind the bar at the time, motions her finger for me to come to the bar. She wants to see my ID. Well I was only 20, so Jin Kwon, one of my Korean friends who was there, does not look like me had handed me his ID. Lisa took one look at the ID and said... "That's not you. You have to leave." Oh the mortification.

Well fast forward a few years to 1993. I hadn't stepped foot in Duprees again until my paddling buddy Billy Davis took me back to shoot some pool on a Monday night. This is the first time I got a glance at Sonya James, the bartender du jour at the time. Well I made my mind at that time that Duprees ain't so bad. I started frequenting the bar more often, usually with Billy. My pool queue found a home there behind the pool counter. I got to know John Dupree in a short while. Anna Krantz had just started working at Duprees after working at Atkins Park. Runa Ware made her entrance. These were the early years, the spring time in the time line. I remember several memorable moments in this span of time, all an inddivual story in their own rite.

Mark (can't remember his last name) shot himself in the foot behind the pool counter.I had a car stolen from the parking lot. (Never leave your keys unattended on a bar, even if you consider that bar your home.)Susan Borden moved from her little home in Little 5 points to a new place on 8th. (helped with that move)Rey Miranda, who had just recently moved from New York, started working with me at a parking garage. I took him to Duprees on one of the nights we were just idle not doing a whole lot. Soon I was introduced to Anna Coyle whom Rey was dating at the time.

My frequent visits continued to Duprees til the summer of 1995 when I stopped working downtown and went on a summer sabbatical. I drifted for about 4 years, making probably a semi-annual visit. These visits presented me strangers, faces I was not accustomed to. I had no idea who Ollie was, who Tony was. I was happy to find out that Anna Coyle was now behind the bar.

On to 1999, 2000. I don't know why I started going back to Duprees, but here I found myself. 7 years later, the same pool cue still behind the counter, I was back at home. I would find myself on many weekend nights hanging out with John behind the counter, sometimes bored senseless to the point where I would make little origami balls, fill the with butane, only to ignite them and watch them fly across the pool counter. I started getting acquainted with familiar faces, started playing cards with the staff on weekends. It soon became a family. A lot can happen in 3 years. I met Nandu, Rob, and James through 1 or 2 degrees of separation from the bar directly. I think it was John that asked me to come out and climb one evening at Atlanta Rocks with Nandu and James. Most of the memories bring a smile to my face, some sadden me. That was then, this is today. Tomorrow, the bar get's a new skin.

when did i write last? can't remember. long time coming. where's my lemon cookie? i just ate a sugar one. i found 2 things sunday afternoon. well the first item i didn't actually find, but my sister did. she was digging through old t-shirts that are in the use for washing car piles. she asked how to cut up a particular shirt, which happened to be my 5th anniversary duprees t-shirt. jaws wide open.... don't cut that shirt, i've been looking for that shirt for years. i am once re-united with one of my favorite rags.

digging through one of the closets in my bedroom. i have to clear out space to move more junk in there. my sister's boyfriend alex has moved in, so he needs the closet in my old bedroom. I digress. at any rate i'm cleaning, making space when i come across 2 large vinyl bags filled with junk. low and behold it's not junk, my mother had filled these 2 vinyl bags on one of her previous visits with my kayaking gear. this is gear i had been looking for for the past 2 years. when it comes to lending items, i have a poor memory. I had written off the gear as lent to someone. yay, i know how 3 spray skirts, 2 pfds, 2 helmets, shorty spray top and a long sleeved spray top. essentially all i was looking for were the skirts. when it comes to paddling flat water during warm weather, give me a skirt, paddle and a boat and i'm good to go. i'm glad i did not bite the bullet to buy new skirts, those damn things cost an arm and a leg now. i remember (sounding like an old fart now) when those things were 50 bucks.... now they're 150. i gotta figure out how to get the boats to the water now. maybe i'll just tie the boats down to the windshield and roll bars on the jeep. i don't know yet. i'm a pretty resourceful fella.

card talk. i've been playing a hell of a lot of cards lately. almost too much, i'm not enjoying it as i did in the past. it's almost become an addiction. with the convenience of gaming online.. i'm doomed. there are moments when i enjoy it. one hand in particular last night. i played 10h 7h in a late position playing quarter/fifty (cents) no limit at Royal Vegas. the flop came 6h 8h 10? top pair, gut shot straight draw, flush draw. i liked that flop. i bet like 50 cents maybe. turn shows a 9d. woo hoo.... nut straight on the turn. i throw a dollar at the pot and it get's raised. of course i only call at this point. don't want to scare the action away. river turns a 9h, giving me the holy grail for that hand and straight flush. it also paired the board, woo hooooooo. so i check and the only other player pushes all-in. unfortunately it was only like 5 bucks or so. i can't call fast enough. after he sees the hands his comments are.... "that was retarded." hahah. it's those moments that make cards exciting for me. of course any player can win a hand with the nuts, good or bad. i don't care what category i fall in, i'll take them any day. in the same game i also flopped set of 3's and turned 4 of kind. i do question the RNG for online gaming rooms. seems to me that there is a higher frequency of improbable hands going against each other in a pot.

what else. my poor neglected triumph that hadn't been ridden in about 5 months is back on the road. I took some time on sunday afteroon to take care of some much needed chain maintenance and general washing. rob just bought himself a fancy set of leathers. i have leather envy now. his suit fits me better than my suit fits me. grrrrrrrr. but that means that we'll be carving up some asphalt in north georgia soon. bikes bikes bikes... so many i want, 2 too many that i've got to pay off first. there is a beautiful Agusta F4 SPR on the showroom floor at Atlanta Ducati Triumph. Anyone have 30K to spare in a long term 0 interest loan? the smile on my face should be enough gratification for you to know that your money was well spent. if not, i'll settle for a ducati 998. if you feel that is too much how about an 04 yamaha R1. time to get tmhsiao on the road on 2 wheels. he has a bandit. what a great name for bike. when i grow up i wanna be a bandit.

my life is in disarray. lately i've misplaced a lot of things. i'll tear up my room looking for an item, nothing anything that i would hide, like a cd case full of movies, only to find something else that i was looking for. 3 items i can't find but in search of. title to the ex500, headset extension cord for my chatterbox, and said cd case full of movies. i've got too much stuff just lying around. oh well. i usually don't notice the stuff until i'm in search of one particular piece of stuff. usually i get by pretty simply. my bed is my friend. i have a very special relationship with my bed. i love my bed, but i don't LOVE my bed.

i've prioritized more outdoor activity this season, i.e.... getting back on the rocks and water. rocktown here i come.

i am an anti-christ, and i am an anarchist. don't know what i want, but i know how to get it. i want to destroy, the support agents down the street, cuz i...... wanna be...... focused.

Started Tai Chi instruction with batnandu and tmhsiao. cool stuff. i love the meditation aspect of it. i suck at the forms right. well i feel like i suck at them because the movements do not feel natural to me. i come from the school of tae-kwon-do where all the movements are very linear. Tai Chi is very fluid, more circular movements. it's not that i can't adapt to those movements, they just feel very unnatural that the moment.

god dammit, i lost a nipple ring 2 weeks ago in the shower. i had this one problem nipple ring where the cap (end piece) would always come out. well for the longest time, a month or 2 i just kinda let it go with just 1 cap piece until 2 weeks ago, it slipped out of my nipple and down the shower drain. no big deal, i'll just a get a new piece of jewelry when i get around to it. i should be okay, the ring had been in my nipple for at least 2 years. well on saturday past i'm in town so i stopped at KoLo. new jewelry. i'm excited. at the bass lofts i tried to run it through my nipple. the damned hole closed up. i think it's probably a little membrane that formed. it's gonna hurt to push it through again. i dunno if i'm just gonna ram the jewelry through or suck it up and pay someone to pierce it again. when i get around to it... one of those things. i love that phrase... taken from DeNiro in heat... when are you gonna.. standard answer: when i get around to it.